As a species, we are social beings who live out our lives in the company of other humans. We organize ourselves into various kinds of social groupings, such as nomadic bands, villages, cities, and countries, in which we work, trade, play, reproduce, and interact in many other ways. Unlike other species, we combine socialization with deliberate changes in social behavior and organization over time. Consequently, the patterns of human society differ from place to place and era to era and across cultures, making the social world a very complex and dynamic environment.

Insight into human behavior comes from many sources. The views presented here are based principally on scientific investigation, but it should also be recognized that literature, drama, history, philosophy, and other nonscientific disciplines contribute significantly to our understanding of ourselves. Social scientists study human behavior from a variety of cultural, political, economic, and psychological perspectives, using both qualitative and quantitative approaches. They look for consistent patterns of individual and social behavior and for scientific explanations of those patterns. In some cases, such patterns may seem obvious once they are pointed out, although they may not have been part of how most people consciously thought about the world. In other cases, the patterns—as revealed by scientific investigation—may show people that their long-held beliefs about certain aspects of human behavior are incorrect.

Science for All Americans

Social science is a collection of disciplines, each of which examines human behavior from a different perspective and has its own particular techniques, modes of expression, and history. The social-science disciplines employ the evidence-based, hypothesis-testing, model-building approach of science in general to investigate social phenomena, using both qualitative and quantitative approaches, and they share the values characteristic of all science. Being literate in science does not require expertise in anthropology, economics, psychology, sociology, and the other social sciences individually, any more than it requires expertise in astronomy, zoology, ecology, and the other natural sciences individually. Scientific literacy does require, however, a broad-based knowledge across all of these disciplines. Therefore, instead of focusing on the special features of the individual social-science disciplines, the benchmarks in this chapter delineate what students at various levels of development ought to know about how social science illuminates human behavior.

The benchmarks that follow are aimed at getting students to understand human social behavior, not at fostering social action or socializing future citizens. In everyday life, scientific knowledge is seldom essential or sufficient for guiding social action. Nevertheless, if scientific knowledge of how human society works is widely shared, it can contribute to better personal and public decision making.

Exploring the findings of social science requires teachers and students to be both the observers and the observed. Students are being asked to observe the human drama critically and dispassionately, but at the same time they—and their family members, friends, neighbors, schoolmates, teachers, shopkeepers, and local authority figures—are also subject matter. It takes time for students to learn how to shift roles. And there is a natural tendency on the part of students of almost any age to reject or ridicule ideas that seem to violate the mores of their major peer group, and that tendency needs to be taken into account.

For their part, teachers should try to lead students to the kind of understanding of human behavior that derives from science. The role of the teacher is to provide a context for multiple perspectives in a democratic society. One useful approach, especially in the upper grades, is for teachers of different subjects to participate in seminars in which students and faculty explore social behavior from a variety of perspectives. In the lower grades, organizing learning around broad questions rather than subject-matter domains can make it easier to meet this objective. Reasoning with statistics is especially important for making sense out of social phenomena. Therefore it is useful to get mathematics and social studies teachers to work together to help all students understand social applications of probability and statistics. Students should also come to realize that insight into human behavior derives from many sources, including the biological, behavioral, and social sciences and also literature, history, art, philosophy, and religion.

A. Cultural Effects on Behavior

One of the central questions of human existence concerns how genetic inheritance, social inheritance, and life experience interact in making people what they are. How much control do individuals have over what they become? The conclusion reached in science is that genetics and culture interact in complex ways to influence what individuals can become but that the range of possibilities is so great that each person can shape his or her own life to a significant degree.

In considering the impact of culture on human behavior, one of the most sensitive issues that arises is social class. Historically, the class into which people are born has determined what their lives can be, although in today's world, skill, wealth, profession, and other factors may be more important than lineage in determining social status. Even where there is greater class mobility, the influence of birth status continues to be a significant factor. Analysts often divide citizens into lower, middle, upper middle, and upper classes (and sometimes use even finer distinctions) based on parent income, occupation, and education. Students in the upper grades should actually examine how those and other socioeconomic indices are determined and become familiar with their uses and limitations. School can help students understand that one can be proud of one's own cultural origins without having to denigrate other cultures. Religious, racial, language, and national prejudices are deep, generational, and not easily eliminated, but at least students can realize that those attitudes are part of everyone's cultural inheritance, and they can become familiar with the effects such attitudes can have on human behavior.

The benchmarks treat standards for defining crime and assigning punishment as cultural variables. This approach is controversial, for many people believe that there are absolute standards for acceptable and unacceptable human behavior. And, of course, students themselves are learning what is and is not acceptable behavior in different settings and are having to face the consequences of their own, sometimes unacceptable, behavior. This fact may be used to enhance the relevance of studying behavior in the context of culture, as long as the scientific study of behavior is not turned into an occasion for moralizing.

Kindergarten through Grade 2

The emphasis in the first years of schooling should be on helping children to become aware of the range of society's implicit rules. Students can begin by finding out what the rules are in different classrooms and families, observing how children respond to the rules and recording their findings in drawings and notes. Discussions can focus on how the rules and behaviors resemble or differ from those in their own classroom or family. Such observations should introduce students to the idea of cultural diversity (though of course no such term need be used at this stage), and this impression should be strongly reinforced by the stories they read.

Current Version of the Benchmarks Statements

By the end of the 2nd grade, students should know that

People are alike in many ways and different in many ways. 7A/P1

Different families or schools have different rules and patterns for behavior. Some behaviors are not accepted in most families or schools. 7A/P2*

People often choose to dress, talk, and act like their friends. They also often choose to do certain things in their own way. 7A/P3*

1993 Version of the Benchmarks Statements

By the end of the 2nd grade, students should know that

People are alike in many ways and different in many ways. 7A/P1

Different families or classrooms have different rules and patterns of behavior. Some behaviors are not accepted in most families or schools. 7A/P2

People often choose to dress, talk, and act like their friends, do the same things they do, and have the same kinds of things they have. They also often choose to do certain things their own way. 7A/P3

Grades 3 through 5

The curriculum should broaden the perception that students have of cultural diversity and shift their attention from observing and describing rules and behavior to considering, from a scientific viewpoint, some reasons for such rules and behavior to exist. Contrasting the common national culture of the United States with other national cultures, or with American subcultures, or with the American culture in former times can be particularly helpful. Research suggests that students are often surprised and puzzled by the actions of people in the past and so become interested in why people behave as they do in the present.

Current Version of the Benchmarks Statements

By the end of the 5th grade, students should know that

People can learn about others from direct experience, from the mass communications media, and from listening to other people talk about their work and their lives. 7A/E1*

Sometimes people feel uncomfortable with people who dress, talk, or act very differently from them. 7A/E2*

Different cultures have different patterns of behavior that are exhibited by people who grow up in those cultures. 7A/E3** (BSL)

1993 Version of the Benchmarks Statements

By the end of the 5th grade, students should know that

People can learn about others from direct experience, from the mass communications media, and from listening to other people talk about their work and their lives. People also sometimes imitate people—or characters—in the media. 7A/E1

People tend to feel uncomfortable with other people who dress, talk, or act very differently from themselves. What is considered to be acceptable human behavior varies from culture to culture and from one time period to another, but there are some behaviors that are unacceptable in almost all cultures, past and present. 7A/E2

Grades 6 through 8

Students should begin to understand more fully why people in different situations and other cultures, past and present, might behave or have behaved differently. Data on economics, education, employment and other demographic variables should now be studied and interrelated to deepen student understanding of the effects of social forces on behavior. Students should use graphs, probability theory, and mathematical modeling to make projections about graduation, jobs, family size, etc. Student projections can be compared to official projections as a basis for discussion of both methods and results.

Data for student analysis can come from census and other statistical databases and from their own collection efforts. Students can conduct careful surveys and, what may be especially interesting to them, they can interview older members of their families to collect their notions of what social, personal, or technological factors influenced their lives the most. Based on the testimony of grandparents, parents, and children their own age, students may get a sense of how much change can occur in a lifetime; they may then attempt to predict 20 years or so into the future and then compare their predictions with one another.

Current Version of the Benchmarks Statements

By the end of the 8th grade, students should know that

Within a large society, there are a variety of groups whose identities are determined in part by the social class, gender, ethnicity, or the region of the country where they live. 7A/M2*

Although within any society there is usually broad general agreement on what behavior is unacceptable, the standards used to judge behavior vary for different settings and subgroups, and they may change with time and different political and economic conditions. 7A/M3a

Rewards and punishments vary widely among, and even within, different societies. 7A/M3b*

Technology, especially in transportation and communication, is increasingly important in spreading ideas, values, and behavior patterns within a society and among different societies. New technology can change cultural values and social behavior. 7A/M4

What is considered to be acceptable behavior varies from culture to culture and from one time period to another, but there are some behaviors that are unacceptable in almost all cultures, past and present. 7A/M5** (BSL)

1993 Version of the Benchmarks Statements

By the end of the 8th grade, students should know that

Each culture has distinctive patterns of behavior, usually practiced by most of the people who grow up in it. 7A/M1In the current version of Benchmarks Online, this benchmark has been moved to grades 3-5 and recoded as 7A/E3**.

Within a large society, there may be many groups, with distinctly different subcultures associated with region, ethnic origin, or social class. 7A/M2

Although within any society there is usually broad general agreement on what behavior is unacceptable, the standards used to judge behavior vary for different settings and different subgroups, and they may change with time and different political and economic conditions. Moreover, the punishments vary widely among, and even within, different societies. 7A/M3

Technology, especially in transportation and communication, is increasingly important in spreading ideas, values, and behavior patterns within a society and among different societies. New technology can change cultural values and social behavior. 7A/M4

Grades 9 through 12

Descriptive and statistical information about different cultures can be used to stimulate discussion about how circumstances, beliefs, and patterns of behavior are linked. The challenge is to help students make sense of behavior patterns that may seem puzzling out of the context of cultural diversity. Although students might be able to describe cultural influences on other people's thinking, the tougher goal is for them to see what influences have an effect on their own ideas and behavior.

Current Version of the Benchmarks Statements

By the end of the 12th grade, students should know that

Cultural beliefs strongly influence the values and behavior of the people who grow up in the culture, often without their being fully aware of it. Responses to these influences varies among individuals. 7A/H1

The ways that unacceptable social behavior is punished depend partly on beliefs about the purposes of punishment and about its effectiveness. Effectiveness is difficult to test scientifically because circumstances vary greatly and because legal and ethical barriers interfere. 7A/H2

Social distinctions are a part of every culture, but take many different forms, ranging from rigid classes based solely on parentage to gradations based on the acquisition of skill, wealth, or education. Differences in speech, dress, behavior, or physical features are often taken by people to be signs of social class. The difficulty of moving from one social class to another varies greatly with time, place, and economic circumstances. 7A/H3

Differences in the behavior of individuals arise from the interaction of heredity, culture, and experience—the effect of each depends on the other. 7A/H4*

1993 Version of the Benchmarks Statements

By the end of the 12th grade, students should know that

Cultural beliefs strongly influence the values and behavior of the people who grow up in the culture, often without their being fully aware of it. Response to these influences varies among individuals. 7A/H1

The ways that unacceptable social behavior is punished depend partly on beliefs about the purposes of punishment and about its effectiveness. Effectiveness is difficult to test scientifically because circumstances vary greatly and because legal and ethical barriers interfere. 7A/H2

Social distinctions are a part of every culture, but take many different forms, ranging from rigid classes based solely on parentage to gradations based on the acquisition of skill, wealth, or education. Differences in speech, dress, behavior, or physical features are often taken by people to be signs of social class. The difficulty of moving from one social class to another varies greatly with time, place, and economic circumstances. 7A/H3

Heredity, culture, and personal experience interact in shaping human behavior. Their relative importance in most circumstances is not clear. 7A/H4

B. Group Behavior

Students may have trouble accommodating the many meanings of social group. The term includes any set of people who regularly spend time together for any reason, invented classifications of people who have mutual interests (such as blue-collar workers or Southerners), and groups that people deliberately and formally join or are assigned to (such as college sororities, military units, scouts, street gangs, or the Shriners). Clearly these are groups in very different senses. Nonetheless, for the purpose of understanding the general consequences of group affiliation, these distinctions make little difference. Indeed, the main point may be that no matter how groups are defined, there are certain common patterns in the relationships between those who belong and those who do not.

Group membership implies some sense of commonality for members and thereby some sense of difference from nonmembers. Often members of a group tend to stereotype outsiders, and nonmembers tend to stereotype the group's members. Group membership does reveal something useful about individuals, but it is a mistake to attribute all of a group's real and imagined properties to every individual who belongs to it. The task for science education is to alert students to the prevalence and error of stereotyping, without disparaging the value of group membership.

Kindergarten through Grade 2

Instruction should use children's experiences to help them make explicit their intuitive notions about behavior in groups. Students can identify their own groups (family, classroom, scouts, or sports team) and indicate how one becomes a member of each. They should also know some of the things that members have in common with each other. Issues of adoption in families, exclusion from groups based on race or sex, and other potentially difficult issues might arise in these discussions, and they should be handled deftly. The school should be a model of inclusiveness, reinforcing the openness that children this age generally come to school with.

Current Version of the Benchmarks Statements

By the end of the 2nd grade, students should know that

People are born into some groups, placed into some groups, and choose to join some groups. 7B/P1*

1993 Version of the Benchmarks Statements

By the end of the 2nd grade, students should know that

People belong to some groups by birth and belong to some groups because they join them. 7B/P1

The way people act is often influenced by the groups to which they belong. 7B/P2In the current version of Benchmarks Online, this benchmark has been moved to grades 3-5 and recoded as 7B/E1*.

Grades 3 through 5

Students can now identify the value that various kinds of social groupings have for their members, including the shared understandings of what behavior is and is not acceptable. Although the emphasis of their study of group behavior should be generally positive, students at this level are beginning to form cliques and should be aware of what it is like to be excluded as well as to be included. Students should be introduced to the idea of crowd behavior and asked to identify examples from their own experience of individuals in groups saying and doing things they never would say or do alone.

Current Version of the Benchmarks Statements

By the end of the 5th grade, students should know that

The way people act is often influenced by the groups to which they belong. 7B/E1*

Different groups have different expectations for how their members should act. Sometimes rules are written down and strictly enforced, and sometimes the expectations are understood by observing how others behave. 7B/E2*

When acting together, members of a group and even people in a crowd sometimes do and say things, good or bad, that they would not do or say on their own. 7B/E3

People join groups because they like to do certain things and they like to be with others who do those things. 7B/E4**

1993 Version of the Benchmarks Statements

By the end of the 5th grade, students should know that

People often like or dislike other people because of membership in or exclusion from a particular social group. Individuals tend to support members of their own group and perceive them as being like themselves. 7B/E1

Different groups have different expectations for how their members should act. Sometimes the rules are written down and strictly enforced, sometimes they are just understood from example. 7B/E2

When acting together, members of a group and even people in a crowd sometimes do and say things, good or bad, that they would not do or say on their own. 7B/E3

Grades 6 through 8

Case studies and simulations can be used to examine how groups can influence attitudes and cause change. Literature also can contribute to students' understanding of group behavior. Appropriate novels, short stories, and plays can be read and discussed, and of course students can themselves write and perform short stories or plays that illustrate some of the ideas being studied. Source material is available on videotape as well.

Current Version of the Benchmarks Statements

By the end of the 8th grade, students should know that

Being a member of a group often has personal advantages, such as companionship, a sense of identity, and recognition by others inside and outside the group. Group identity may also create a sense of separation from other groups or individuals. 7B/M1*

People sometimes react to all members of a group as though they were the same and perceive in the members' behavior only those qualities that fit preconceptions of the group. Such stereotyping leads to uncritical judgments, such as showing blind respect for members of some groups and blind disrespect for members of other groups. 7B/M2*

Some groups result from the creation of an organization. Others exist only in the sense that members share some common characteristics or interests. 7B/M3**

1993 Version of the Benchmarks Statements

By the end of the 8th grade, students should know that

Affiliation with a group can increase the power of members through pooled resources and concerted action. Joining a group often has personal advantages, such as companionship, a sense of identity, and recognition by others inside and outside the group. Group identity may create a feeling of superiority, which increases group cohesion but may also entail hostility toward other groups. 7B/M1

People sometimes react to all members of a group as though they were the same and perceive in their behavior only those qualities that fit preconceptions of the group. Such stereotyping leads to uncritical judgments, such as showing blind respect for members of some groups and equally blind disrespect for members of other groups. 7B/M2

Grades 9 through 12

Students should have the skills to survey community groups to identify types of organizations and their compositions and to interview members to find out what they believe are the benefits of belonging to the groups they do. Historical and contemporary cases can be explored for extraordinary results of group affiliation—say, the Bolshevik Revolution, the Montgomery boycotts, or the Vietnam War. At some point it is important that students examine science itself as a group enterprise—including pooling of resources, use of mutual critique, and shared biases—and all that implies for the nature of science.

Current Version of the Benchmarks Statements

By the end of the 12th grade, students should know that

Organizations usually have explicitly stated social, business, or political purposes, but they also often have purposes beyond those for which they officially exist. 7B/H2*

When individuals act together as a group, it can be difficult to assign blame or credit to any one person. 7B/H3** (SFAA)

1993 Version of the Benchmarks Statements

By the end of the 12th grade, students should know that

The behavior of a group may not be predictable from an understanding of each of its members. 7B/H1

Social organizations may serve business, political, or social purposes beyond those for which they officially exist, including unstated ones such as excluding certain categories of people from activities. 7B/H2

C. Social Change

Social change happens sometimes in a flash, but more often slowly. The point to raise with students is not whether change is good or bad (it is usually some of each, and in any case different people are apt to judge it differently) or whether it is needed or not (societies need to change over time but they also need stability). What is sought here is an understanding of what kinds of internal and external factors foster social change or influence its character. Another major aim should be to help students to recognize that unless it is imposed by force, social change involves negotiation among different interests—on every level from deciding who does the dishes to organizing a neighborhood activity to working out international treaties. Developing such an understanding takes time—time for students to encounter and examine social change in a variety of present and historical contexts.

Kindergarten through Grade 2

The way children adapt to change in their own lives can influence how they understand and relate to social change in later life. They can be helped to examine changes that affect their lives, including those they expect (moving to the next grade) and those they don't (moving away).

Current Version of the Benchmarks Statements

By the end of the 2nd grade, students should know that

Changes happen in everyone's life, sometimes suddenly, more often slowly. People cannot control some changes, but they can usually learn to cope with them. 7C/P1

1993 Version of the Benchmarks Statements

By the end of the 2nd grade, students should know that

Changes happen in everyone's life, sometimes suddenly, more often slowly. People cannot control some changes, but they can usually learn to cope with them. 7C/P1

Grades 3 through 5

To a large extent, social structure can be characterized by its rules, formal and informal. Social change typically entails negotiation of some rules. Children know that breaking a rule carries a penalty, even though they may also think that some rules are unfair. They often regard all rules as unchangeable and don't know that rules can be changed through negotiation. Negotiation should be emphasized in classroom management and after-school activities. Students, to some degree, can take part in making school and classroom rules that relate to procedures, compliance, and rewards or penalties.

Current Version of the Benchmarks Statements

By the end of the 5th grade, students should know that

Although rules at home, school, church, and in the community stay mostly the same, sometimes they change. Changes in social arrangements happen because some rules do not work, new people are involved, or outside circumstances change. 7C/E1*

Rules can sometimes be changed by getting whoever made the rules to agree to change them. 7C/E2*

1993 Version of the Benchmarks Statements

By the end of the 5th grade, students should know that

Although rules at home, school, church, and in the community stay mostly the same, sometimes they change. Changes in social arrangements happen because some rules do not work or new people are involved or outside circumstances change. 7C/E1

Rules and laws can sometimes be changed by getting most of the people they affect to agree to change them. 7C/E2

Grades 6 through 8

Middle-school students can imagine themselves in situations different from their own. Interviews with senior citizens, literary and media accounts of life in times past, simulations, and role playing all provide raw material for discussions about social change. Students can be helped to see that cultural patterns change because of technological innovations, scientific discoveries, and population changes. They can identify social changes that happen gradually as well as those that happen quickly because of natural disasters and wars. Students should also begin to identify aspects of family and community life that have remained relatively constant over generations.

Current Version of the Benchmarks Statements

By the end of the 8th grade, students should know that

Some aspects of family and community life are the same now as a generation ago, but some aspects are very different. What is taught in school and school policies have been changed over the years in response to family and community pressures. 7C/M1

By the way they depict the ideas and customs of one culture, communications media may stimulate changes in other cultures. 7C/M2

Migration, conquest, and natural disasters have been major factors in causing social and cultural change. 7C/M3

1993 Version of the Benchmarks Statements

By the end of the 8th grade, students should know that

Some aspects of family and community life are the same now as they were a generation ago, but some aspects are very different. What is taught in school and school policies toward student behavior have changed over the years in response to family and community pressures. 7C/M1

By the way they depict the ideas and customs of one culture, communications media may stimulate changes in others. 7C/M2

Migration, conquest, and natural disasters have been major factors in causing social and cultural change. 7C/M3

Grades 9 through 12

Students at this level can consider how technology has affected mobility and the capacity for crowding in cities. They can use case studies to examine the causes and results of social changes occurring under conditions of close and prolonged contact between two cultures. Students become aware of the complexity of explaining human population patterns such as urban crowding or mobility and can search databases and identify and display trends and relationships.

Current Version of the Benchmarks Statements

By the end of the 12th grade, students should know that

The size and rate of growth of the human population in any location are affected by economic, political, religious, technological and environmental factors. Some of these factors, in turn, are influenced by the size and rate of growth of the population. 7C/H1

The decisions of one generation both provide and limit the range of the possibilities open to the next generation. 7C/H2

Mass media, migration, and conquest affect social change by exposing one culture to another. Extensive borrowing among cultures has led to the virtual disappearance of some cultures but only modest changes in others. 7C/H3

To various degrees, governments try to bring about social change or impede it through policies, laws, incentives, or direct coercion. Sometimes such efforts achieve their intended results and sometimes they do not. 7C/H4

1993 Version of the Benchmarks Statements

By the end of the 12th grade, students should know that

The size and rate of growth of the human population in any location is affected by economic, political, religious, technological, and environmental factors. Some of these factors, in turn, are influenced by the size and rate of growth of the population. 7C/H1

The decisions of one generation both provide and limit the range of possibilities open to the next generation. 7C/H2

Mass media, migrations, and conquest affect social change by exposing one culture to another. Extensive borrowing among cultures has led to the virtual disappearance of some cultures but only modest change in others. 7C/H3

To various degrees, governments try to bring about social change or to impede it through policies, laws, incentives, or direct coercion. Sometimes such efforts achieve their intended results and sometimes they do not. 7C/H4

D. Social Trade-Offs

Gaining an understanding of the concept of social trade-offs may be one of the most important components of a comprehensive education. Because social problems typically involve a variety of factors and interests, it is rare that one solution to a problem will carry all the benefits and avoid all disadvantages. Because increasing some advantages is likely to decrease others, most realistic solutions involve compromise among advantages and disadvantages. If the habit of considering alternatives and their consequences is to be functional for students, they should exercise it in a rich variety of contexts.

Thus the concept of tradeoffs should show up in every part of the curriculum, including social studies, literature, physical education, technology, and science. Student decision making in the classroom, student government, clubs, newspaper, yearbook, community service, etc. should help them learn the inevitability of tradeoffs and the need to take benefits and costs into account in any proposed action. When people with different interests are involved in solving social problems, compromise is also needed to accommodate their different perceptions of advantages and disadvantages. As students mature, they can consider social tradeoffs in broader and more sophisticated situations. The principles continue to apply, but there is an increase in the range and complexity of contexts and the difficulty of making decisions.

Kindergarten through Grade 2

Life is full of choices, even for very young children. Many choices are made for them, of course, by parents and teachers. Telling children some of the reasons that particular choices were made can show them what counts as explanation and get them into the habit of looking for reasoned decisions. But children do make many decisions for themselves—and should be encouraged to anticipate the possible consequences of their choices.

Current Version of the Benchmarks Statements

By the end of the 2nd grade, students should know that

Getting something one wants may mean giving up something in return. 7D/P1

Different people may make different choices for different reasons. 7D/P2

Choices have consequences, some more serious than others. 7D/P3*

1993 Version of the Benchmarks Statements

By the end of the 2nd grade, students should know that

Getting something one wants may mean giving up something in return. 7D/P1

Different people may make different choices for different reasons. 7D/P2

Choices have consequences, some of which are more serious than others. 7D/P3

Grades 3 through 5

Children can improve their decision-making skills and apply them in new and varied situations. The decisions they make and the decisions others make in their behalf can serve as the subject for discussions about tradeoffs Discussions should include examining possible options, considering how various options will affect others, identifying possible risks, and deciding which risks, if any, are worth taking.

Current Version of the Benchmarks Statements

By the end of the 5th grade, students should know that

In making decisions, it helps to take time to consider the benefits and drawbacks of alternatives. 7D/E1

In making decisions, benefits and drawbacks of alternatives can be taken into account more effectively if the people who will be affected are involved. 7D/E2

Sometimes social decisions have unexpected consequences, no matter how carefully the decisions are made. 7D/E3

1993 Version of the Benchmarks Statements

By the end of the 5th grade, students should know that

In making decisions, it helps to take time to consider the benefits and drawbacks of alternatives. 7D/E1

In making decisions, benefits and drawbacks of alternatives can be taken into account more effectively if the people who will be affected are involved. 7D/E2

Sometimes social decisions have unexpected consequences, no matter how carefully the decisions are made. 7D/E3

Grades 6 through 8

Students at this level are very preoccupied by personal and social relationships. Their greatest concerns are usually peer approval and popularity, sexual development and feelings, personal appearance, and the struggle to separate from family and become an individual. They can consider personal and social consequences of individual choices in health (sexual activity, immunization), education (how different course choices limit future options), and popularity (how affiliation with one group might exclude a person from others). Students should assess tradeoffs that occur in the lives of their friends (or their own) and that offer only unwanted choices (such as sexual abstinence and venereal disease).

Current Version of the Benchmarks Statements

By the end of the 8th grade, students should know that

There are trade-offs that each person must consider in making choices—about personal popularity, health, family relations, and education, for example—that often have lifelong consequences. 7D/M1

One common aspect of all social trade-offs pits personal benefit and rights of the individual, on one side, against the general social good, on the other. 7D/M2*

Trade-offs are not always between desirable possibilities. Sometimes social and personal trade-offs require accepting an unwanted outcome to avoid some other unwanted one. 7D/M3

1993 Version of the Benchmarks Statements

By the end of the 8th grade, students should know that

There are trade-offs that each person must consider in making choices—about personal popularity, health, family relations, and education, for example—that often have life-long consequences. 7D/M1

One common aspect of all social trade-offs pits personal benefit and the rights of the individual, on one side, against the social good and the rights of society, on the other. 7D/M2

Trade-offs are not always between desirable possibilities. Sometimes social and personal trade-offs require accepting an unwanted outcome to avoid some other unwanted one. 7D/M3

Grades 9 through 12

Students at this age can examine the complexities of decision making and take into account different types of costs (direct, indirect, economic, social, emotional, etc.). They can examine tradeoffs across generations and over great distances (actions taken in one place or time can have costly outcomes elsewhere). They can realize that the people who receive benefits and the people who bear the costs of those benefits are often not the same. Social, environmental, political, technological, and scientific case studies offer a rich foundation for developing decision-making skills.

Current Version of the Benchmarks Statements

By the end of the 12th grade, students should know that

Benefits and costs of proposed choices include consequences that are long-term as well as short-term, and indirect as well as direct. The more remote the consequences of a personal or social decision, the harder it usually is to take them into account in considering alternatives. But benefits and costs may be difficult to estimate. 7D/H1

In deciding among alternatives, a major question is who will receive the benefits and who (not necessarily the same people) will bear the costs. 7D/H2

Social trade-offs are often generational. The cost of benefits received by one generation may fall on subsequent generations. Also, the cost of a social trade-off is sometimes borne by one generation although the benefits are enjoyed by their descendants. 7D/H3

It is difficult to compare potential benefits of social alternatives. One reason is that there is no common measure for different forms of good. Another reason is that different groups of people place greatly differing values on even the same kinds of social good. 7D/H4** (SFAA)

Peaceful efforts at social change are most successful when the affected people are included in the planning, when information is available from all relevant experts, and when the values and power struggles are clearly under-stood and incorporated into the decision-making process. 7D/H5** (SFAA)

1993 Version of the Benchmarks Statements

By the end of the 12th grade, students should know that

Benefits and costs of proposed choices include consequences that are long-term as well as short-term, and indirect as well as direct. The more remote the consequences of a personal or social decision, the harder it usually is to take them into account in considering alternatives. But benefits and costs may be difficult to estimate. 7D/H1

In deciding among alternatives, a major question is who will receive the benefits and who (not necessarily the same people) will bear the costs. 7D/H2

Social trade-offs are often generational. The cost of benefits received by one generation may fall on subsequent generations. Also, the cost of a social trade-off is sometimes borne by one generation although the benefits are enjoyed by their descendants. 7D/H3

E. Political and Economic Systems

Political and economic systems evolve to become quite complex, so it's easy to convince ourselves that children cannot possibly understand them. Yet these systems are based upon very simple and basic premises that children can grasp, first mostly in personal terms and later in societal terms. It is important that they do so if they are to be expected to grasp the more complex refinements of these evolved systems as they become older.

When reduced to their simplest terms, political and economic models describe how people organize themselves to satisfy their needs: People tend to live in groups, and so must devise means for living and working together; people have needs, and so must devise means for allowing everyone a fair chance at meeting these needs; people can choose how they will live and work together and how they will go about meeting their basic needs.

Students can participate in student government and take some part in making, interpreting, and even enforcing rules of fair play. Students can visit local, state, and federal government institutions—city council, state legislature, Congress—and compare what these bodies do with what their student council does.

These benchmarks focus on two theoretical economic/political models, here called free-market and central-planning (in lieu of the more usual "market" and "command") to emphasize their theoretical nature. Neither exists in the pure form, though people often speak as though they did. The models are useful for promoting thoughtful analysis of government, in terms of principles and in terms of what works in practice. Discussions of what should be planned and what should be left to market forces can focus attention on issues of efficiency and fairness. As students study local, state, and federal governments and U.S. and world history, they can see that societies have very different ways of deciding what their needs are and how to meet them.

Kindergarten through Grade 2

Young children can engage in discussions about rules and fair play. They have a sense of what is and is not fair and are interested in discussion about it. They know about negotiation and compromise when expressed in terms of sharing in decisions. Although still focused primarily on self, they can learn to consider the interest of all in certain circumstances.

At this age, children encounter government systems mostly through the services they receive, such as mail service and police and fire protection. But at this age they are only dimly aware of what a government is. (They might think, for example, that the postman does his job because he likes people to get mail.) Children know that people have jobs, make money to buy things, and that jobs involve making or selling things or performing services. They can make connections between money and goods on the one hand and money and work on the other. They are not ready, however, to conceive of the whole system that relates production to consumption. Children should experience producing, buying, and selling, which can provide the foundation for discussions of more abstract ideas later on. They can learn about the range of jobs that parents and neighbors have through the communications media, invited speakers, and field trips.

Current Version of the Benchmarks Statements

By the end of the 2nd grade, students should know that

Rules can help to make sure that everyone is treated fairly. 7E/P2*

People often trade things they have for things that they want. 7E/P3**

1993 Version of the Benchmarks Statements

By the end of the 2nd grade, students should know that

Money can buy things that people need or want. People earn money by working at a job making or growing things, selling things, or doing things to help other people. 7E/P1In the current version of Benchmarks Online, this benchmark has been moved to grades 3-5 and recoded as 7E/E5**.

Everyone wants to be treated fairly, and some rules can help to do that. 7E/P2

Grades 3 through 5

Children can develop an understanding of the relationship between pay received and the quantity and quality of work done in any one job. But they have trouble making the connection between the pay received for different kinds of jobs and the amount of goods and services produced. Experience with producing goods from raw materials may be helpful for eventually understanding the larger system. Simulations of economic systems can help students explore money systems and trade. Students should also learn about systems of trade used in different places and by different groups, both past and present.

The free-market and central-planning models provide alternative ways of allocating resources. Although it's too early to ask students to compare the systems, they can have concrete experiences with the problems each model tries to solve—what is to be produced, for whom, by whom, and how? Young children have a strong sense of fairness, which should be taken seriously and used in discussions about rules, jobs, and money.

Current Version of the Benchmarks Statements

By the end of the 5th grade, students should know that

People who live together in a group often reach an agreement about what each will contribute to the others in the group. 7E/E1*

Sometimes a community decides to make certain services—such as schools, libraries, parks, mail service, and police and fire protection—equally available to all its members through government agencies. 7E/E2*

People often compete for resources when their supply is limited. 7E/E3*

Trading things people have or things they want for money is often more convenient than trading those things directly. The same is true for services people provide or services that they want. 7E/E5** (BSL)

The value of something depends on how much of it is available and how many people want it. 7E/E6**

In some groups, decisions are made by and disputes settled by recognized authorities such as parents, teachers, bosses, or elected officials. 7E/E7**

1993 Version of the Benchmarks Statements

By the end of the 5th grade, students should know that

People tend to live together in groups and therefore have to have ways of deciding who will do what. 7E/E1

Services that everyone gets, such as schools, libraries, parks, mail service, and police and fire protection, are usually provided by government. 7E/E2

There are not enough resources to satisfy all of the desires of all people, and so there has to be some way of deciding who gets what. 7E/E3

Some jobs require more (or more expensive) training than others, some involve more risk, and some pay better. 7E/E4In the current version of Benchmarks Online, this benchmark has been deleted.

Grades 6 through 8

Focusing on particular issues, such as health care or crime control, students can investigate how various countries answer the basic economic questions: Who decides the answers to basic economic questions, and who decides who gets to decide?

Current Version of the Benchmarks Statements

By the end of the 8th grade, students should know that

Government provides some goods and services through its own agencies and some through contracts with private individuals or businesses. To pay for the goods and services, government must obtain money by taxing people or by borrowing the money. 7E/M1

Governments are run by people who come into power by election, appointment, or force. 7E/M2*

Governments usually have most of the power to make, revise, interpret, and enforce the rules and decisions that determine how a community, state, or nation is run. Many of the rules established by governments are designed to reduce social conflict. The rules affect a wide range of human affairs, from marriage and education to scientific research and commerce. 7E/M3*

Some industries are controlled by government agencies that decide which goods or services to provide and how to distribute them based on various political considerations. 7E/M4a*

Some industries are privately owned and controlled by many different individuals or groups of individuals that decide which goods or services to provide based on what they believe will personally benefit them the most. 7E/M4b*

Almost all societies have some industries that are privately owned and some that are run by government agencies. 7E/M4c*

The goods and services that people want are supplied by individuals or by groups of individuals. 7E/M5**

The political system of a nation is closely intertwined with its economic system, refereeing the economic activity of individuals and groups at every level. 7E/M6** (SFAA)

1993 Version of the Benchmarks Statements

By the end of the 8th grade, students should know that

Government provides some goods and services through its own agencies and some through contracts with private individuals or businesses. To pay for the goods and services, government must obtain money by taxing people or by borrowing the money. 7E/M1

Government leaders come into power by election, appointment, or force. 7E/M2

However they are formed, governments usually have most of the power to make, interpret, and enforce the rules and decisions that determine how a community, state, or nation will be run. Many of the rules established by governments are designed to reduce social conflict. The rules affect a wide range of human affairs, from marriage and education to scientific research and commerce. 7E/M3

In a central-planning model, a single authority, usually a national government, decides what to produce, how to produce it, and for whom. In a free-market model, consumers and producers (individually or in organizations) make these decisions based on what they believe will benefit themselves. No real-world economy is a pure example of either model; all economies have some features of each kind. 7E/M4

Grades 9 through 12

As students examine more complicated cases, they should be challenged to imagine what the pure economic system would be like and to account for why all real-world systems are a mix. They can collect and analyze data from different economic systems. Games and simulations can show them how changing various conditions or making different assumptions would play out over time.

Current Version of the Benchmarks Statements

By the end of the 12th grade, students should know that

In a free-market economic system, it is assumed that free competition produces the best allocation of resources, the greatest productivity, and the lowest costs. Decisions are made naturally as consumers and businesses interact in the marketplace. Free-market enterprises are initiated by individuals or groups of individuals who invest and risk their own resources, or resources they borrow, in order to earn profits on that invested capital. The anticipation of profit motivates individual initiative, innovation, and hard work in a free-market economy. Problems may arise if one business achieves a monopoly in the delivery of a particular product or service, so that the motivation to deliver that product or service efficiently is no longer present. And if all decisions are determined by an unregulated market system, some individuals may become extremely rich and others so poor that they can barely afford even the basic necessities such as food and shelter. 7E/H1*

In almost all societies, governments run some industries for the benefit of the society as a whole. The advantage of this approach compared to the free-market approach is that goods and services that the society wants can be made available to citizens even if it is not profitable for private industry to offer them. The disadvantage is that decisions must be made by government officials, often with input from the public, on the basis of factors that are much more complex than profit alone. In addition, there may be less incentive to work as efficiently when the profit motive is absent and the system does not respond as quickly to short-term variations in supply and demand that the free-market system allows. 7E/H2*

Governments can use a variety of strategies to keep a free-market system functioning efficiently and to protect individuals and the society as a whole from the negative effects of free-market behavior. Interventions that protect individuals include placing restrictions on unfair hiring, requiring private industries to offer a minimum wage and make health insurance available to their workers, and providing various forms of welfare support to those who cannot pay for basic services themselves. Interventions that protect society at large include imposing tax rates that increase with wealth and placing restrictions on environmental pollution, unfair advertising, and the sale of unsafe products. Governments maintain competition among industries in a free-market system by restricting the establishment of monopolies and by providing support to certain critical industries to maintain their ability to compete. 7E/H3*

1993 Version of the Benchmarks Statements

By the end of the 12th grade, students should know that

In the free-market model, the control of production and consumption is mainly in private hands. The best allocation of resources is believed to be achieved by individuals and organizations competing in the marketplace. Individual initiative, talent, and hard work are expected to be rewarded with success and wealth. Government's role is primarily to protect political and economic freedoms for society as a whole—even at the cost of some individual or group material benefits. 7E/H1

In the central-planning model, production and consumption are controlled by the government. The best allocation of resources is thought to be achieved through government planning by experts. Dedication to the good of the society as a whole is expected to motivate initiative, talent, and hard work. The main purpose of government is to promote comparable welfare for all individuals and groups—even at the cost of some individual and group freedoms. 7E/H2

In practice, countries make compromises with regard to economic models. Central planning has to allow for some individual initiative, and markets have to provide some protection for unsuccessful competitors. The countries of the world use elements of both systems and are neither purely free-market nor entirely centrally controlled. Countries change, some adopting more free-market policies and practices, others more central-planning ones, and still others doing some of each. 7E/H3

F. Social Conflict

Human beings generally live in groups, voluntarily cooperating and competing with one another. Within the general context of interdependence, however, some social conflict is inevitable—from infants squabbling over toys to adolescent rivalries for friendship to adult constitutional debates and war. Human societies spend much time in negotiating differences—peacefully, heatedly, or violently.

Children are not strangers to conflict. One purpose of education is to help children learn how to deal thoughtfully and constructively with conflict in their own lives. Understanding the nature of social conflict and ways of moderating it can contribute to that end. Such understanding is also important for confronting community, religious, international, interracial, and intercultural conflict. School provides opportunities for students to obtain experience in resolving conflict in positive ways. Social conflict that occurs in school can be examined in ways that will lead to understanding and help students resolve conflict in constructive ways.

Kindergarten through Grade 2

Young children experience many conflicts as they go about distinguishing their rights from those of others around them. The simple recognition that others have rights is a significant part of the socialization process. Children need considerable guidance to help them identify when their actions are likely to result in conflict with others and to learn strategies for avoiding it. Providing opportunities for students to explain their point of view can lead to new insights for children and teachers alike. Role playing and discussion of various situations involving conflict may also help.

Current Version of the Benchmarks Statements

By the end of the 2nd grade, students should know that

Disagreements may occur between family members, friends, and others. 7F/P1a*

Some ways of dealing with disagreements work better than others. People who are not involved in a dispute may be helpful in solving it. 7F/P1b*

Rules at home, at school, and in the community let people know how to behave and what to expect from others and so can reduce the number of disputes. 7F/P2*

1993 Version of the Benchmarks Statements

By the end of the 2nd grade, students should know that

Disagreements are common, even between family members or friends. Some ways of dealing with them work better than others. People who are not involved in an argument may be helpful in solving it. 7F/P1

Rules at home, at school, and in the community let individuals know what to expect and so can reduce the number of disputes. 7F/P2

Grades 3 through 5

Children's own conflicts (and stories about those of others) continue to provide a rich source of material for discussion, which should include possible consequences of various ways of resolving conflict. Students can understand the fairness of majority votes, although they may not entirely accept that others' interests are as important as their own. Even when they are on the losing side, students can accept the results of an either/or choice if they believe it was fair, particularly in a class or school election. They want to take part in decision making and are able to negotiate compromises. They also can learn to negotiate from a minority position and try to lobby peers and even adults into supporting their position.

Current Version of the Benchmarks Statements

By the end of the 5th grade, students should know that

Communicating the different points of view in a dispute is a first step in finding a satisfactory compromise. 7F/E1*

Resolving a conflict by force rather than compromise can lead to more problems. 7F/E2

One person's exercise of freedom may conflict with the freedom of others. Rules can help to resolve conflicting freedoms. 7F/E3

If a conflict cannot be settled by compromise, it may be decided by a vote—if everyone agrees to accept the results. 7F/E4

1993 Version of the Benchmarks Statements

By the end of the 5th grade, students should know that

Communicating the different points of view in a dispute can often help people to find a satisfactory compromise. 7F/E1

Resolving a conflict by force rather than compromise can lead to more problems. 7F/E2

One person's exercise of freedom may conflict with the freedom of others. Rules can help to resolve conflicting freedoms. 7F/E3

If a conflict cannot be settled by compromise, it may be decided by a vote—if everyone agrees to accept the results. 7F/E4

Grades 6 through 8

Conflict has more serious consequences now than before and has immediate, as well as long-term, significance. Emphasizing conflict resolution is more important than focusing on the dangers of conflict.

Current Version of the Benchmarks Statements

By the end of the 8th grade, students should know that

Groups are sometimes formed to consolidate influence or power through pooled resources and concerted action. The formation of a group highlights the differences between people who are members and those who are not and may lead to conflict between them. 7F/M1*

Most groups have formal or informal procedures for arbitrating conflicts between their members. 7F/M2*

Conflict between people or groups arises from competition over ideas, resources, power, and status. 7F/M3** (BSL)

Social change, or the prospect of it, often promotes conflict. Rarely, if ever, is a proposed social, economic, or political change likely to benefit every component of a social system equally, and so the groups that see themselves as possible losers resist the change. 7F/M4** (SFAA)

1993 Version of the Benchmarks Statements

By the end of the 8th grade, students should know that

Being a member of a group can increase an individual's social power or hostile actions against other groups or individuals. It may also subject that person to the hostility of people who are outside the group. 7F/M1

Most groups have formal or informal procedures for arbitrating disputes among their members. 7F/M2

Grades 9 through 12

History provides endless examples of conflict, its causes, and its consequences. Adding social and economic analysis to historical narrative helps students better understand both. There is value in studying major episodes of conflict in history, but they should be made more relevant by relating them to more current episodes that have some personal meaning for students.

Current Version of the Benchmarks Statements

By the end of the 12th grade, students should know that

Social change, or the prospect of it, promotes conflict because social, economic, and political changes usually benefit some groups more than others. That, of course, is also true of the status quo. 7F/H1*

Conflicts are difficult to resolve when there are few choices, or there is little room for compromise. 7F/H2a*

The use of pamphlets, demonstrations, cartoons, etc., may provide an outlet for people to voice their frustrations without resorting to violence. Such tactics may, however, be inflammatory and make agreement more difficult to reach. 7F/H2b*

Conflict between people or groups is sometimes reduced when the groups in conflict are fighting a common adversary. 7F/H3*

Conflict does not necessarily end when one side gets a decision in its favor, for the "losers" may then work all the harder to reverse, modify, or circumvent the decision. 7F/H4*

Conflicts can be resolved through direct negotiation and compromise by the people or groups involved or through an appeal to an outside authority such as a court. The general public sometimes has a say in settling conflicts through electing government officials or voting in public referendums. 7F/H5**

1993 Version of the Benchmarks Statements

By the end of the 12th grade, students should know that

Conflict between people or groups arises from competition over ideas, resources, power, and status. Social change, or the prospect of it, promotes conflict because social, economic, and political changes usually benefit some groups more than others. That, of course, is also true of the status quo. 7F/H1In the current version of Benchmarks Online, the first sentence of this benchmark has been moved to grades 6-8 and recoded as 7F/M3**.

Conflicts are especially difficult to resolve in situations in which there are few choices and little room for compromise. Some informal ways of responding to conflict—use of pamphlets, demonstrations, cartoons, etc.—may sometimes reduce tensions and lead to compromise but at other times they may be inflammatory and make agreement more difficult to reach. 7F/H2

Conflict within a group may be reduced by conflict between it and other groups. 7F/H3

Intergroup conflict does not necessarily end when one segment of society gets a decision in its favor, for the "losers" may then work all the harder to reverse, modify, or circumvent the change. Even when the majority of the people in a society agree on a social decision, the minority who disagree must be protected from oppression, just as the majority may need protection against unfair retaliation from the minority. 7F/H4

G. Global Interdependence

The purpose here is not to promote any particular view of how nations should work together or to suggest what the balance between national interests and global ones ought to be for the United States or any other country. Rather, students need to become aware of the growing number of ways in which each nation is part of larger political, economic, military, environmental, biological, and technological systems.

In history, geography, and social studies, students ought to discuss the consequences of citizens' ties to religious and ethnic groups that transcend national borders and go farther back in history than the country itself. Whether in the United States or in other nations, nonnative groups are increasingly important elements of society.

Kindergarten through Grade 2

Children should have many opportunities to identify meaningful roles for themselves through a variety of personal interactions—in school, at home, and in the community. They can be "helpers" in all of these places—being responsible for classroom duties, picking up after themselves at home, recycling or picking up litter in their environment (and participating in other community-service activities). Children need to see themselves and what they do as important to others—enabling them to notice and appreciate how what others do affects them. They should have experiences in which "everyone must do their part" in order to achieve success—bringing an item for a class project or party, having a role in a class play or other performance, etc. Through interviews and other encounters with community, business, and government workers, children can develop a wider view of the many ways in which people can affect one another.

Children should be encouraged to ask where various products they use come from. Role playing or simulations involving trading goods and services can lead to discussions about problems that arise when bartering is the only way to get what one wants.

There are no longer any benchmarks assigned to this grade level in this section in the current version of Benchmarks.

1993 Version of the Benchmarks Statements

By the end of the 2nd grade, students should know that

For many things they need, people rely on others who are not part of the family and maybe not even part of their local community. 7G/P1In the current version of Benchmarks Online, this benchmark has been moved to grades 3-5 and recoded as 7G/E2**.

Grades 3 through 5

Students should continue to have experiences that show their impact on the world around them, such as community-service projects. Students may not know exactly where or how far away various countries are, but they certainly know, through television or even the labels on their clothing, that many different countries exist. Books, films, other media, and direct personal experiences can expand the students' world beyond the borders of their community, state, and country. A variety of activities can familiarize (and fascinate) students with products grown or manufactured elsewhere in the world—many of which they see and use in their everyday lives. And television can show how one country helps another deal with the consequences of a natural (or other) disaster. Schools can provide opportunities to reflect on this information.

Current Version of the Benchmarks Statements

By the end of the 5th grade, students should know that

Many of the things people eat and wear come from other countries. 7G/E1a*

Trade occurs between individual people, between nations, and between regions in the same nation. 7G/E1b*

For many things they need, people rely on others who are not part of their family and may not even be part of their local community. 7G/E2** (BSL)

1993 Version of the Benchmarks Statements

By the end of the 5th grade, students should know that

Many of the things people eat and wear come from other countries, and people in those countries use things from this country. Trade occurs between nations, between different people, and between regions in the same nation. Decisions made in one country about what is produced there may have an effect on other countries. 7G/E1

Grades 6 through 8

The study of geographical differences in climate and natural resources will make the advantages of trade evident. Simulations can involve students in planning the use of available resources for the greatest benefit and making choices about what, how much, and how to produce things to meet wants and needs. Students can trace how policies of market participants or government agencies affect the production and distribution of resources.

Current Version of the Benchmarks Statements

By the end of the 8th grade, students should know that

Trade between nations occurs when natural resources or the skill to make something are unevenly distributed or when the costs of production are very different in different countries. A nation has a trade opportunity whenever it can create more of a product or service, or a better quality product or service, or a less expensive product or service than can another nation. 7G/M1*

The economic well-being of a country may be enhanced by improving the skill and motivation of its workforce, by developing equipment or practices that are more efficient and produce higher quality products and services, and by engaging in trade with other nations. 7G/M2*

Treaties are negotiated between two or more nations to establish or maintain peaceful relationships, to define parameters for trade, or to create political or military alliances. 7G/M3*

The global environment is affected by national and international policies and practices relating to energy use, waste disposal, ecological management, manufacturing, and population. 7G/M5*

Communication and transportation technologies influence how much people in different countries may interact, whether it be for political, economic, or social purposes. 7G/M6**

International organizations such as the United Nations, the World Bank, and the European Union provide a structure for nations to communicate, reach consensus, and negotiate treaties, but these organizations often have only limited authority over their members. 7G/M7** (SFAA)

Treaties do not affect all of the people in a country equally. 7G/M8** (SFAA)

1993 Version of the Benchmarks Statements

By the end of the 8th grade, students should know that

Trade between nations occurs when natural resources are unevenly distributed and the costs of production are very different in different countries. A nation has a trade opportunity whenever it can create more of a product or service at lower cost than another. 7G/M1

The major ways to promote economic health are to encourage technological development, to increase the quantity or quality of a nation's productive resources—more or better-trained workers, better equipment and methods—and to engage in trade with other nations. 7G/M2

The purpose of treaties being negotiated directly between individual countries or by international organizations is to bring about cooperation among countries. 7G/M3

Scientists are linked to other scientists worldwide both personally and through international scientific organizations. 7G/M4In the current version of Benchmarks Online, this benchmark has been moved to chapter 1, section C, and recoded as 1C/M9**.

The global environment is affected by national policies and practices relating to energy use, waste disposal, ecological management, manufacturing, and population. 7G/M5

Grades 9 through 12

The daily newspaper and news weeklies provide good raw material for stimulating fruitful discussions on economic and political models. Trade negotiations, worker migration, balance of payments, productivity, and the like are the focus of much international tension. In analyzing these matters, students should try to understand what is going on rather than judge what is desirable.

Current Version of the Benchmarks Statements

By the end of the 12th grade, students should know that

The wealth of a country depends on the balance between how much its resources and products are sought by other nations and how much of other nations' resources and products it seeks. Even if a country could produce everything it needs for itself, it may still benefit from trade with other countries. 7G/H1*

International trade is often complicated by political motivations taking priority over economic ones. 7G/H2*

The migration of workers between nations—temporary and permanent, legal and illegal—plays a major role in the quality and availability of the workforce in many nations. It can bring both economic benefits and political problems. 7G/H3*

The growing worldwide interdependence of social, economic, and ecological systems means that changes in one place in the world may have effects in any other place. 7G/H4*

Communication and transportation technologies, coupled with political and economic policies, now allow people to interact with people in different countries almost as easily as they interact with people in their own country. This has allowed for the spread of political, economic, and cultural influences across the planet much more rapidly than had been the case in the past. Like any social change, there are trade-offs in the globalization of the planet, and it benefits some people more than others. 7G/H5**

1993 Version of the Benchmarks Statements

By the end of the 12th grade, students should know that

The wealth of a country depends partly on the effort and skills of its workers, its natural resources, and the capital and technology available to it. It also depends on the balance between how much its products are sought by other nations and how much of other nations' products it seeks. Even if a country could produce everything it needs for itself, it would still benefit from trade with other countries. 7G/H1

Because of increasing international trade, the domestic products of any country may be made up in part by parts made in other countries. The international trade picture is often complicated by political motivations taking priority over economic ones. 7G/H2

Migration across borders, temporary and permanent, legal and illegal, plays a major role in the availability and distribution of labor in many nations. It can bring both economic benefits and political problems. 7G/H3

The growing interdependence of world social, economic, and ecological systems does not always bring greater worldwide stability and often increases the costs of conflict. 7G/H4

VERSION EXPLANATION

During the development of Atlas of Science Literacy, Volume 2, Project 2061 revised
the wording of some benchmarks in order to update the science, improve the logical progression of ideas,
and reflect the current research on student learning. New benchmarks were also created as necessary to
accommodate related ideas in other learning goals documents such as Science for All Americans (SFAA),
the National Science Education Standards (NSES), and the essays or other elements in
Benchmarks for Science Literacy (BSL). We are providing access to both the current and the 1993
versions of the benchmarks as a service to our end-users.

The text of each learning goal is followed by its code, consisting of the chapter, section, grade range, and the
number of the goal. Lowercase letters at the end of the code indicate which part of the 1993 version it comes from (e.g., “a”
indicates the first sentence in the 1993 version, “b” indicates the second sentence, and so on).
A single asterisk at the end of the code means that the learning goal has been edited from the original, whereas two asterisks
mean that the idea is a new learning goal.